This episode was so lame, it took me almost a year to write the review! (Hello again!) Maybe I was also being lazy, but man, this episode just killed my enthusiasm. Sadly, my laziness means I have to watch the episode again in order to review it.

The girls going to Puerto Rico seemed like an excuse for some of the cast and crew to go on vacation and for the girls to wear bikinis. WHO IS THIS RANDOM MODEL? When I first watched the episode, I assumed she was from America’s Next Top Model because some CW-forced appearance was the only thing that made sense and kind of excused the pointlessness of the character. But no, she’s just some model/actress and there is no purpose, unless the weird lesbian subtext was the purpose. I kept thinking the model was going to put the moves on Quinn. And then there was Lauren grabbing the model’s boobs, and Quinn taking the suggestive picture with her for Clay. I’m not offended (other than by this all being boring and pointless), but we don’t usually see these characters act like that and all of these things combined just made me think Mark Schwahn was being a creeper when he wrote and directed this. And then there were the homophobic “jokes” about Clay’s shirt and Brian Boitano (who is not openly gay, but come on, that was the intent). It was very disappointing to hear jokes like that.

Brooke avoiding drinks was cute. But she could have easily said she wasn’t in the mood for sushi and ordered something else instead of eating someone’s old discarded fries! That was gross. Drunk Lauren pigging out on snacks, falling off her bed, and getting locked out of her hotel room was kind of funny. It struck me as something we might have seen Brooke do in earlier seasons. But oh, look. It’s that model again, here to save her. WHY?

Julian telling Nathan that Brooke is pregnant was a nice moment.

WHY DIDN’T NATHAN MENTION LUCAS IN HIS LIST OF PEOPLE HE PLAYED WITH AT THE RIVER COURT? HE MENTIONED JIMMY EDWARDS FOR CRAP’S SAKE BUT NOT LUCAS AND NOT EVEN MOUTH? WHY ISN’T MOUTH TRYING TO SAVE THE RIVER COURT TOO?

I’m sorry. I normally hate it when people use caps too much but I can’t help it right now.

WHAT THE HELL IS THIS EPISODE?

And it doesn’t end there. Chase is joining the Air Force, and Chuck is upset, so he drives a tractor over Clay’s stupid chair … set to Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep.” Fantastic song, but this is not an appropriate use for it. I can’t even get through this very special scene of Chase and Chuck talking at the picnic table. This is the most boring story arc of all time.

The Mouth and Millie story was okay, although its conclusion was pretty obvious from the start. I like Millie and I wish she could interact more with the other characters again. You know, I actually hate Mouth but in comparison to the bloated cast of lame-o minor characters from the past two years, I’m usually happy to see him now. His speech at the River Court was one of the better moments of the episode.

The best part of the episode was easily the last few minutes. Haley introducing the new Karen’s Cafe to Brooke was exciting. Haley and Brooke running the new cafe is a plot line with great potential! It was also lovely to see Brooke tell Haley she was pregnant, despite the frustration that so many less-important people found out first. Oh well. The last scene of Nathan and Jamie at the River Court was cute, too.

I’m currently studying for an English exam and we have to define the word “plot.” The definition is this: “An author’s unique arrangement of the events in a narrative.” This episode definitely had a unique arrangement. That being said, I thought that this episode was an improvement on the last two. Mostly, it felt like no one character or couple dominated the episode, which was important. There were still some elements that I think could have been done away with, but given the disappointment of the last two episodes, this was an improvement. I actually enjoyed this episode.

I want to start off by saying that I think Austin Nichols is doing a great job with the story of losing the baby and confronting the Kellermans. The first scene of Julian at the laptop and taking a drink (ginger ale) involved him not saying a word, but I thought he did a great job showing Julian’s pain, anger, and frustration. I also enjoy Julian’s ineptitude at being one of the guys in regards to coaching. Nathan and Clay have done a nice job of accepting that Julian is just not a jock, but still treating him like he’s one of theirs. It doesn’t come as much of a surprise that Julian and Brooke are getting their miracle baby. I’m happy for them and I thought that the scene on the baseball field was nicely done. It felt hopeful.

I honestly don’t care about Chase and Alex. But, as it turns out, their story this week was basically just a catalyst for Brooke and Julian. If Chase joins the Air Force, so be it. I like Alex. I think that last season she was easily the best of the three new characters. I don’t particularly see a need for her to continue. I don’t know what there is left for her in Tree Hill. But, since I didn’t feel like they were taking over this week, I wasn’t as annoyed with them as I have been.

What does annoy me is the treatment of poor Chuck Scolnik. Is the kid a brat? Yes. Does he deserve to be a punching bag? Absolutely not. Even astute, Yoda-like Jamie took a shot at Chuck this week, making fun of him for his mom not being there. Jamie’s supposed to be the nice kid. That was a low blow. Chuck’s been at the butt of some jokes for a while now. Clearly, these jokes hurt Chuck’s feelings. I think it’s time to stop. Also, when it comes to Jamie’s friends, I prefer Andre. Andre was an extension of Q and I loved Jamie and Q’s friendship.

As compared to last week, there was a scene between Nathan and Haley this week! Add to that, Lydia was there! Actually, it’s been proposed that Lydia may have been a hologram or that green screen may have been involved. I’ll take it. I liked the scene. I liked that Haley had her legs over Nathan’s. I’ve always liked when they sat like that. What I loved most was that Nathan was confiding in his wife. This is something that he should have been doing in earlier episodes. I even liked that little half scene of theirs at the end. Since at this point, Bethany Joy Galeotti was a new mom, I can totally excuse there being only that one and a half scenes. Especially since that made up the majority of Haley’s scenes.

So, is this the resolution to the Kellerman story? I actually wish they would have turned Ian in. I like the unit of Nathan, Julian, and Clay. When this whole thing began, I never really thought that it would be August Kellerman. It never crossed my mind that it would be him. From the beginning, I thought it would be Ian. So, it wasn’t a surprise when that was revealed that week. This week, I think Ian proved that he really had no redeeming qualities. He’s a selfish jerk. Although, I find it a little weird that Clay was the one who got angry enough to push Ian off of the bridge. Nathan and Julian were the ones who nearly lost loved ones. I suppose since Clay knows what it’s like to lose a loved one? I do like seeing Julian lose control. There are things about this story I would have done differently. I think as far as paralleling the relationships between Dan and Nathan and August and Ian, it was okay. I very much welcome the return of Dan Scott, so if it brings that, then right on. I approve.

So, a few final points:
• The way Haley was looking at the sign, do you think maybe she might be thinking of reopning the cafe? I’d like that.
• I like Clay and Quinn best when they’re being funny.
• If the show gets a ninth season, I pray that they stick with Gavin’s theme and only Gavin’s theme.

This episode was very disappointing, especially after the long hiatus! The bizarre trend of incredibly limited (non-flashback) Nathan and Haley scenes continues despite this being an episode about the birth of their child.

A few minutes into this episode, Brooke tells Julian that she doesn’t want to steal Haley’s thunder. Do you think Mark Schwahn realized the irony when he wrote that line? To be fair, Brooke the character didn’t steal Haley’s thunder at all. She was a great friend to not overshadow Haley’s day with her own excitement, and then sadness. The writing, on the other hand, put the focus on Brooke. I think the episode meant to contrast the two baby stories, but it failed. Nothing illustrates that more than the final scene of Brooke’s bittersweet introduction to Lydia. I’m not saying it was a bad scene — it was a good dramatic moment for Brooke. But by choosing that ending instead of showing Haley, Nathan, Jamie, and Lydia together, Lydia’s birth felt like part of Brooke’s story instead of a moment for the Scott family.

I would also say the flashbacks failed at lending any real emotion to the episode. One Tree Hill has a long history of using flashbacks as part of the narrative, but these scenes were too long and felt like filler rather than the characters’ memories. There were also some odd choices, like Dan and Nathan in the hospital and the montage of Haley being violent (I choose to believe that was inspired by this). Worst of all, the clips reminded me of when the show was better and made this episode seem worse in comparison.

I hate to be entirely negative. I liked the Brooke and Julian story, although it was predictable. I always like seeing Nathan with Jamie. I laughed at Clay spitting crackers. Jamie’s narration reminded me a little of Peyton. He seemed weirdly anxious about Haley and the baby being healthy! Maybe he remembers Aunt Peyton’s baby coma.

I continue to find the lack of Nathan and Haley interaction to be very discouraging, but I’ll try to write about other things in this review so that I don’t come across as being such a Debbie Downer. There were things I enjoyed. With the exception of those last final moments, I feel like this was mostly a filler episode.

Julian and Brooke continue to be adorable as they look for paint colors for their baby’s room. I’m with Nathan, I would see a band called Soft Duckling. I’m happy that they’re getting a baby, but it all seems to be happening so quickly that I feel like something has to be happening here. How did she not have her definitive due date? That seems weird, but I’ve never been pregnant. Also, like Meaghan, I watched Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and am having a little bit of actor transference with Leven Rambin. But, I also watched her on All My Children, so my concerns are probably not as bad as Meaghan’s. That being said, I would have not been surprised if it had turned out she had been the one to hit the car Jamie and Brooke were in. Then, she said she drove a Prius. I still think something is up there.

Other than Chase, who I still find pointless being a regular, I enjoyed the diner scene at the beginning of the episode between the guys. It’s nice that Julian is getting along with the guys. He’s awkward with them and I liked that he felt the need to point out to Clay that it wasn’t Jamie on the phone. Also, I relate to Julian correcting people when they misquote movies. I’ve been known to do that.

Chase. His need to point out that he is bar manager was never funny and now it’s old and pathetic. I also wish they’d give up on this story between he and Chuck. First of all, it’s mean to out Alex and her glasses. Is it a big deal? No. But it’s still mean. Second of all, it’s mean to laugh at Chuck when he’s clearly having trouble dealing with possibly needing glasses. Chuck came to Chase because he trusted him and then Chase laughs. Does Chase turn it around in the end? Yes. But the point is that I just find this pointless.

Speaking of pointless, Millie now has a job as a TV journalist while Mouth helps her. I don’t find it that difficult to believe that a television station would hire a beautiful girl with no experience. I mean, have you seen some of the traffic and weather reporters? I have a hard time believing that some of these women are certified meteorologists. I do take issue with the fact that they’re filling up space. Her story was basically from Mouth’s mouth. She didn’t even form her own story and I think that Millicent would. She did the research, sure. But she did Mouth’s story. She took it from his angle.

Haley’s little test for everyone was cute. Sometimes, it’s really hard to swallow that Quinn is supposed to be the older one, based on behavior. But, Haley was doing grown up things, like getting married, at a very early age. Stuffing Haley into a Stringray was pretty funny. I most enjoyed Brooke’s test, though. Brooke and Haley’s friendship is one of the things I’ve really enjoyed most this season. But, all this testing just made it so clear that once again, Nathan wasn’t around his wife while she’s pregnant.

He did tell Ian that he had to go home because his wife was pregnant. We don’t see a lot of that this season. It’s nice that Nathan is doing well in school. I would have preferred to see more of that than going after Ian, but we now know that that has a purpose. A lot of the bad things that happen in Nathan’s life have to do with bad decisions he has made. This is another of those bad decisions. He really went to bat for Ian (pun intended) and now he’s found out that Ian is the one who nearly killed his son.

On the one hand, I’m glad that it’s Nathan that discovered it and not Brooke and Julian. I love them, but so much focus has been put on them. This should make for some interesting story in the coming episodes and a part of me is enthusiastic about it and about Nathan having something really interesting to do. A part of me worries that this will take him more away from his wife and son. I’ve had enough of that.

I am wondering if Professor Kellerman knows. He’s so insistent that Nathan not represent Ian. There has to be a reason for it, so perhaps it’s some misguided attempt to protect his son. Even though his son nearly killed Nathan’s son.

A few random things:
– I liked Quinton Aaron in The Blind Side, but I don’t see the point of him here.
– So not feeling this week’s theme song.
– Did a toaster pastry company sponsor this week’s episode?
– What a difference in blue books for Nathan! An “F-is-for-fine” in season one to an A- now! Well done!
– Mark Schwahn wrote the last five episodes of the season. Here’s hoping there’s an improvement.

It Was Just a Joke

Welcome to It Was Just a Joke, a little fan site for the secret greatest show on television. This site is home to our One Tree Hill fanlistings, icons, thoughts, and other random content. Warning: spoilers for all episodes!